Seattle put more resources into rebuilding its offense — the top two draft picks were offensive linemen, while top free agent dollars went to upgrades at receiver, tight end and guard — but that doesn’t mean the Seahawks aren’t expecting big improvements on defense. Gone are vocal leaders, Lofa Tatupu and Lawyer Milloy as the Seahawks get younger as a team, and particularly on defense.
A pass defense that struggled last year hopes to improve under the leadership of a pair of second-year safeties — Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor — and a new starting cornerback, Brandon Browner, who has spent the past four years in the CFL. David Hawthorne will try to fill in the leadership void at middle linebacker with Tatupu gone, while outside linebacker Leroy Hill looks to revive a once-promising career. Up front, Seattle hopes the defensive line anchored by re-signed DT Brandon Mebane and DE Red Bryant can repeat the success it had early last season before injuries took their toll.
RENTON — Plenty has been written about Leroy Hill the past two years. Little of it has been good, or had much to do with his ability to play football.
Now, with the 2011 season days away, Hill is ready to change all of that. He’s ready to remind people just how talented of a linebacker he can be now that the most difficult two-year period of his life is behind him. And Hill wants to be clear on that — the trouble is behind him.
“Obviously I got in trouble, but that’s over with and behind me,” Hill said. “I don’t plan on getting in trouble ever again. But what I can do on the field, everybody knows that.”
To recap, Hill’s tumultuous times began with an arrest for marijuana possession in Jan. of 2009. Later that spring, the Seahawks placed the franchise tag on the talented outside linebacker, who as a rookie was part of the team’s Super Bowl run. After Seattle drafted Aaron Curry with the No. 4 pick in that year’s draft, the franchise tag was removed from Hill, who eventually agreed to a long-term deal with the Seahawks.
In 2010, Hill was arrested for domestic violence less than two weeks after pleading guilty to the misdemeanor marijuana charge. Hill eventually agreed to a deal that would make the domestic violence charge go away if he stayed out of trouble for 18 months and met other court-ordered stipulations. While that allowed him to avoid jail time, Hill still paid a price. Following Hill’s second arrest, the Seahawks restructured his contract, cutting his 2010 pay from $6 million to $2.15 million and wiping out the remaining four years of the lucrative contract.
When Hill suffered a season-ending injury in his first game back from a league-mandated suspension, the assumption was that Hill’s time in Seattle was over. But to the surprise of everyone, Hill included, he is back for a seventh season in Seattle.
The strangeness of Hill being one of the few survivors of Seattle’s two-year roster overhaul under Pete Carroll and general manager John Schneider is not lost on the linebacker, who along with Marcus Trufant, is one of two players remaining from Seattle’s Super Bowl team.
“Whoever thought I’d still be one of the two here from that Super Bowl team after everything I’ve been through,” he said. “I take it as a blessing.”
So Hill is back, but he is not the same person. Arrests, suspensions, pay cuts and injuries have caused Hill to reevaluate his life and do a lot of maturing.
“The restructuring of my contract was my own fault,” said Hill, whose base salary this year is the minimum for a veteran of his service level, a far cry from what he would have made under the six-year, $36 million deal he signed in 2009.
“I’m past that. I’m surprised with all the turnover that I am still here, but I am here, so all I can do is make the most of it.”
Particularly sobering for Hill was his visit last summer with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell following his second arrest.
“I had seen on TV guys having to go to the commissioner, and I was like, ‘Man, these guys are tripping, getting in trouble like this,'” Hill said. “Then boom, it’s me sitting in that office looking at the commissioner face-to-face, telling him my story.
“It was a wakeup call. I knew I was headed down the wrong path, doing the wrong things in my life. I got past all of that and I’m ready to go.
And as unlikely as his second chance with Seattle may be, Hill is certainly making the most of it. When Hill re-signed, it appeared he would come in as a backup. When Lofa Tatupu was released, Hill’s weakside linebacker spot came open with David Hawthorne moving to middle linebacker.
Now, after nearly an entire season off, Hill is rejuvenated and showing the playmaking ability that had everyone so excited just a few short years ago.
“He’s come back with a renewed enthusiasm,” defensive coordinator Gus Bradley said. “He is into it, he’s taking care of his body better, and he’s just really focused on having a good year. He’s doing a nice job. He’s made a lot of tackles, he’s taking over a leadership role with linebackers. We expect him to have a good year.
“He was always very serious about football, but in all aspects of his life, he seems like he has it all together.”
If Hill really does have it all together — and early indications are that he does — then he could turn into the steal of free agency for Seattle. His troubles behind him, Hill is ready to go back to making a name for himself for his actions on the field.
“The last two years have had their ups and downs, but I’m good, I’m ready to go,” he said. “I wanted to be here, so I’m happy. … I knew I’d be playing somewhere, but was I going to be playing for the team I wanted to play for? It worked out, and I’m here and I have a chance to redeem myself.”
Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com. For more Seahawks coverage, check out the Seahawks blog at heraldnet.com/seahawksblog
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